Moorgate ups the pace in JPMorgan Corporate Challenge

July 11, 2014

Brilliant sunshine and a cooling breeze made for perfect conditions for this year’s JPMorgan Corporate Challenge; a 5.6km fun run around Battersea Park to raise funds for WaterAid. For Moorgate’s crack team of athletes, preparations varied. For those who actually frequent the gym, and have owned running shorts for longer than 24 hours, excitement was building and increasingly competitive times were debated and defended. For those of us who hadn’t broken into a sweat since school PE lessons, other questions were more important: would six months of carb-loading suffice? Exactly how flat is the park – there definitely aren’t any uphill sections?

While running abilities varied, there was no doubting the level of enthusiasm throughout the team. With Moorgate shirts donned, and bananas and running bibs in hand, we made our way to the start line to join the throngs – and the rest is a blur. Some sprinted with intermittent walking breaks, others took it at a strong and steady pace, and two slowly limped around, strategically saving any energy reserves for a professional-looking sprint finish at the end.

Special mention must go to our two fastest athletes – Sarah Whitehead and Tom Strachan-McCarter – who sped around the course in 29:42 and 29:56 respectively, and are deserving winners of this year’s “Moorgate Challenge”. We were also delighted to spot a number of familiar faces at the event, including runners from BNY Mellon and Natixis.

All in all, a fun evening out for an excellent cause – so look out for the Moorgate team at future sporting events!